Benefits Of Ghee

Benefits Of Ghee

Anyone who has tasted Indian cuisine has probably noticed that they have a certain buttery, creamy taste in their food. It’s almost like the Western butter, but it is different somehow. This difference in taste and texture is due to the fact that Indians do not use regular butter to flavor their food. Instead, they use their own version of it: ghee.

Ghee is actually a reduced version of regular butter. Known as “clarified butter‒, ghee is obtained when regular butter is melted, then simmered long enough for three layers to form: A top, watery layer which is disposed of, a solid yellow “butter-like‒ layer, and a milky solid layer at the very bottom. It is the middle layer that the Indians call their ghee.

Ghee is considered to be healthier than regular butter because in the process of simmering, many of the fats found in regular butter are removed. Also, since most of the liquid is also skimmed off during this process, ghee is known to have a more intense and creamy flavor and texture than regular butter. Since much of the liquid has been removed, ghee is known to have a longer shelf life than butter. You can actually keep ghee in room temperature for at least three weeks before it starts to go bad. You have to remember that when ghee was invented, there was no refrigerator back then, and the ghee had to be hardy enough to be kept for long periods of time without spoiling.

The benefits of ghee do not only rest in sensory delight! Since there is less fat in ghee, you can digest it more easily than regular butter. It will also deliver less cholesterol into your body than the regular stuff. Some people who are ghee fans will actually claim that eating ghee will aid in weight loss since the easier digestion will also aid in faster metabolism. Since you will be using ghee rather than the usual fat, oil, butter or other hydrogenated oils you use for cooking, you will also be lessening the risk of heart and liver disease.

Other health benefits for ghee include the fact that ghee does not contain salt (unlike many types of butter), so you are ingesting less sodium. For those who are lactose intolerant, ghee is a great fat option because ghee contains no lactose products. Even for chefs, there is a great advantage of ghee over butter. Ghee is known to have a higher smoking point than butter, and does not burn easily. So it is more convinient to use for cooking.

So if you’re looking for something new that will whet your appetite, why not take a stroll into your local market and pick up some ghee? Taste and feel the difference for yourself, today!

2 thoughts on “Benefits Of Ghee”

  1. “Ghee is considered to be healthier than regular butter because in the process of simmering, many of the fats found in regular butter are removed.”
    Ghee is all fat, the simmering removes all the water, giving a HIGHER fat percentage.

    As a result, cholesterole levels are HIGHER for ghee than for butter.

    “For those who are lactose intolerant, ghee is a great fat option because ghee contains no lactose products.”
    While ghee does only contain extremely small amounts of lactose, butter usually only contains trace amounts of lactose, and when fermented, the microorganisms used for the fermentation converts most of even this small amount. So while your statement is true, the comparison is wrong.

    Reply
    • @martin, The resulting ghee contains no more cholesterol than the butter it was made from. You can’t compare by weight because they are two different products. In that regard Ghee is more flavorful than butter so less is required. Ghee can be a good substitute for butter for those who are sensitive to certain milk products such as casein. Fermentation of butter does not solve those who have milk sensitivity problems, ghee is a much better substitute as the milk solids have been removed. Finding fermented butter would be problematic for most anyway. The statements in the article are correct.

      Reply

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